Features

Interface

Sound

Programmability

Construction

Overview

Comments

The Access Virus B is the first synthesizer I ever bought (purchased second-hand off Craigslist), and it is the first synth I used to learn about subtractive synthesis. Looking back, I probably should’ve looked for a more immediate/hands-on and simpler synth such as a Roland Juno 106 or Juno 60 to learn synthesis on, but alas, the Virus B came up for sale and I decided to snap it up.

So with that said, despite the many knobs and buttons, initially I was overwhelmed by the interface due to the amount of menu diving required to change certain values, or to get into the effects section (I really like my effects to be instantly accessible, for real-time tweaking! :)). As well, at the time I was mystified by the “mod matrix”, as such concepts were new to me but additionally the Virus B’s small LCD screen made it hard to visualize what source was modulating what destination (ie, lots of flipping through menus). However, having gone through the manual and learning more over time, it has become much more intuitive… that said if you are a beginner synthesist, you may find the menu diving/routing area a bit confusing at first.

Sound-wise the Virus B has an interesting sonic character… it’s warm in a digital way, but can also sound aggressive or harsh. The filter is very resonant, the envelopes are snappy, the sustain and release times can get massive… which makes it great for ambient drones and pads. Additionally, the reverb can sound incredibly spacious, and the delay effects are varied and fun to play with. However, one downside is that it’s not possible (to my knowledge) to have both a global delay + a global reverb at one time, or multiple effects at once (a la Novation Supernova II). Access apparently enabled multiple simultaneous effects capabilities with the later Virus TI models, thankfully.

Regardless, the Virus series has been somewhat pigeonholed over the years as being a “trance” synth. Yes, many of the Virus B’s presets have that late 90s era sound to them, but this synth can be used for much more than trance and presets. For ambient music I find it excellent as it’s quite easy to create soundscapes and manipulate the sounds in real-time via the front panel knobs. The stereo spread is wide, and the saturation curves can bring out some great additional harmonics and textures. Compared to some synths, it’s actually fairly easy to begin from a basic INIT patch, start tweaking, and come up with a lush sound a few minutes later.

The Virus B’s build quality is excellent (made in Germany) and it has nice wooden end cheeks. It’s sturdy, has high-quality rotary encoders, and feels like it will last a long time without issues. Personally I haven’t had any technical problems or glitches with it since I’ve owned it the past few years, and Access provide great support for their products (OS updates, patches etc).

If you are looking to learn synthesis on a synthesizer that is sonically flexible and aren’t adverse to some menu diving, then the Virus B could be right up your alley. That said, if you prefer not to have to bother with menu diving and prefer a simpler setup, consider synths that do not require an LCD to adjust deeper parameters.